After Release, Data On Rehabilitated Animals Is Slim

Experts Say GPS Devices Could Provide Follow-Up Information

By Judith Siers-Poisson

Just like people, animals can be injured and need medical attention. But while a human can call 911 for help for themselves or someone else, injured animals are often defenseless and vulnerable in the wild.

Jackie Edmunds, the wildlife coordinator for the Dane County Humane Society's Four Lakes Wildlife Center[2] in Madison, said that while she works with all the different species that come to the center -- “everything from baby bunnies on up,” she said -- her particular research interest is with raptors.

She said the most common injury to raptors is when they are hit by a vehicle. Red-tailed hawks are particularly likely to be found near roadsides because the small rodents that they hunt are often found nearby. So, a swoop across the road to catch a rodent can result in a hawk being struck by a passing car. That can result in broken bones or worse, she said.

Like humans, a raptor with a broken wing might need weeks of rehabilitation. Edmunds said that the treatment can include surgery, pain medication, limited movement and just a safe and calm place to recover. They will often need to be fed by staff, and might even need more intensive care like having fluids administered.

After the initial recovery period, the animals are then moved outside to flight pens, Edmunds explained. There are different sizes of pens for different species, and some are equipped with video monitors. Towards the end of their stay, raptors are also flown on a tether, similar to what a person might see in falconry.

It can sometimes be a long process of recovery.

“It's sometimes months until a bird is released,” she said.

Edmunds said that while a lot of good work is going on in wildlife rehabilitation, there is a glaring hole in the field: That’s follow-up research to see how those released animals fare back in the wild.

As Edmunds explained in an article[3] on the Four Lakes Wildlife Center blog:

When it comes to research within wildlife rehabilitation, however, specialists in our field come up short. Specifically, there are far too few rehabilitators that ask the simple question: “how well does our patient perform after release?” Release is the most exciting part of our job – we may spend weeks, months, or even years of effort devoted to a single animal, and our goal is to bring them back to full health to perform in the wild as if they had never been received by our facility in the first place. How many rehabilitators know how to answer that one question? Currently, we assume “happily-ever-after” in most cases.

As a result, Edmunds is mapping out a project that would use GPS to track raptors after they are treated and released.

“I would love to know exactly what happens,” she said.

But, it’s not just for a sense of closure for the work of wildlife rehabilitation. It would also provide valuable data on which injuries the birds are most able to recover from, which can mean more effective and efficient allocation of resources.

That data will come at a price. The Four Lakes Wildlife Center has a goal of raising $40,000 by May 2014 in order to purchase 10 GPS devices.